I asked a trainer for a five-move foam rolling routine to soothe sore muscles – here’s what he prescribed

Body feeling a bit beaten up? Try this routine

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Foam rolling feels good. Research has struggled to pin down why, but that doesn’t stop thousands of exercisers turning to these trusty padded tubes when warming up or soothing sore muscles. Unlike most recovery tools nowadays, they’re also refreshingly affordable, with a solid roller readily available for roughly £30.

Once you’ve picked one up, the next hurdle is knowing what to do with it. To solve this, we asked Michael Cummings, BlazePod head master trainer and a strength coach of more than 20 years, to share his favourite five-move routine for easing aching muscles across the entire body.

“There are three main reasons why a person should use a foam roller; to mitigate pain, to prepare the body for movement, training or competition, or to speed up the recovery process,” he says.

His routine below is designed to aid recovery, so he recommends applying a moderate-deep amount of pressure and moving the roller at a fairly slow rate for the best effect.

How to do trainer Michael Cummings’ five-move foam rolling routine

Move one: Targets the hips and lateral thigh

Demonstrating how to use a foam roller to soothe muscle soreness around the hips and lateral thigh (The Independent / Harry Bullmore)

Benefits: Reduces soreness in the hips, IT Band and around the knee.

Lie on your side, propped up on your elbow, and place the roller adjacent to your leg, just above your knee.
Roll the roller up the outside of your thigh until it reaches your hip, moving inch by inch and stopping to focus on any sore spots.
Take 30 to 60 seconds on each leg.

Move two: Targets the calf muscles and Achilles tendons

Demonstrating how to use a foam roller to soothe muscle soreness around the calf and Achilles tendon (The Independent / Harry Bullmore)

Benefits: Reduces soreness in your lower extremities, around the ankle, Achilles tendon, calf and knee.

Sit on your bum with your torso upright, your legs stretched out in front of you and your palms placed on the floor just behind you for support.
Place the foam roller under both ankles.
Roll up your calves until you reach the back of your knees.
Again, go inch by inch, stopping at any sore areas. Take 30 to 60 seconds to do this.

Move three: Targets the t-spine

Demonstrating how to use a foam roller to soothe muscle soreness around the spine (The Independent / Harry Bullmore)

Benefits: Reduce soreness in the mid-back and shoulders.

Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted flat on the floor.
Place the foam roller between your just below your shoulder blades, then roll it up and down to target the muscles of your mid-back.
Move inch by inch and vertebrae by vertebrae. Do this for 30-60 seconds, breathing deeply throughout.

Move four: Targets the glutes

Demonstrating how to use a foam roller to soothe muscle soreness around the glutes (The Independent / Harry Bullmore)

Benefits: Reduces soreness in the glutes, hips and lower back.

Sit with the foam roller under your bum, your hands planted on the ground behind you for support, and your feet flat on the ground in front of you.
Lift one foot up and cross it over the knee of the other leg.
Slowly roll back and forth, covering as much of the glute as possible.
Take 30-60 seconds per side.

Move five: Targets the lats

Demonstrating how to use a foam roller to soothe muscle soreness around the lats (The Independent / Harry Bullmore)

Benefits: Reduces soreness in the upper back and latissimus dorsi or lats (the broad muscles spreading across the back).

Lie on your side with your lower arm outstretched along the floor above your head.
Place the foam roller just below your shoulder, and roll it along the side of your ribcage up to the base of your arm.
Take 30-60 seconds per arm.

The foam roller to buy

Myprotein muscle roller: £28, Myprotein.com

This is a solid roller which has everything you need for a good warm-up, cool down and recovery session. The foam is particularly firm, so you can really get into any tight spots, and it has a variety of grooves, allowing you to use different parts of the roller to achieve different pressures. At £28, it’s a fairly affordable addition to your gym bag too.

Get 10% off almost everything at Myprotein with code MYPINDY (*T&Cs and exclusions apply).

Buy now

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